Electromagnetically-controlled irrigating head-gate.



C. E- MERCER.

ELECTROMAGNETICALLY CONTROLLED mme/nme HEAD GATE.

APPLICATION FILED .IULYZQ, 1913. 1 176,390.. Patented Mar. 21, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

wua ntoz 4 w ezjwrc r THE COLUMBIA PMNOGRAPH 530-, WASHINGTON, D- C- vc. E. MERCER.

ELECTROMAGNETICALLY CONTROLLED IRRIGATING HEAD GATE.

, APPLICATION FILED JULY29. 1913- 1,176,390.

Patented Mar. 21,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

RAP:

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CLARENCE E. MERCER, 01? DENVER, COLORADO.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE E. MERGER, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city and county of Denver, and State of Colorado, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements inElectromagnetically-Controlled" Irrigating Headfiates; and I do declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in'the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference a being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference markedthereon, which form a part of th1s specification.

My invention relates to improvements in irrigating head gates adapted tobe controlled by the making-andbreaking of an electrical circuit, theswitch for controlling the circuit being located at any desired distancefrom the gate.

My object is to make it practicable to oontrol a gate of this characterat a distance therefrom so that the person in charge of the work ofirrigation may, if he desires, have a switch located in his house, whichswitch may be capable of. manipulation to open the head gate to permitthe desired quantity of water to pass through and also to close thegate. By virtue of this construction, it becomes practicable for oneperson in a given location to accurately control sists of a rotarydevice preferably having three members radially disposed from its axis,two of the members being connected by a segmental ratchet engaged by anescapement device, the latter being electromagnetically controlledpreferably by the employment of a solenoid. The escapement is fast on arock spindle with which is rigidly connected a crank armarranged to beclepressed by the core of the solenoid when the coils of the latter areenergized. The escapement and ratchet arm are so arranged that when themagnet is energized, the core of the latter acts to disengage the upperarm of the escapement-from the ratchet, while the lower arm is throwninto position to engage the next tooth. The switch arm, however, ispreferably adjusted so that the closing of the circuit shall be butmomentary,

the switch arm being moved past the circuit Specification of LettersPatent. P t t d 21, 191

Application filed July 29, 1913. Serial No. 781,744.

closing contact so that the circuit through the coils of the magnet ispractically immediately broken after closing. In this event, a springacting on the core of the solenoid, the said core being suitablyconnected with the crank arm for the purpose, will actuate the crankarmto return the escapement to its normal position, and during thismovement the lower arm of the escapement will be disengaged from thetooth of the ratchet and the upper arm of the escapement will be throwninto position to engage such tooth.

Thus, during each circuit closing act, the gate will move rotatively adistance corresponding with the distance between the teeth of thesegmental ratchet arm, with which the escapement cooperates. Theoperation of the escapement serves to release the gate and the weightconnected with the blade thereof, which is normally uppermost, willserve'to move the gate when it is desired to close the same, and to suchposition that the weighted arm will be engaged by the current of thewater, which acts thereon to return the gate to the closed position. Theconstruction will be such that the operator will understand the effectupon'the gate by each movementof theswitch arm for circuit closingpurposes.

Having briefly outlined my improved construction, I will proceed todescribe the same in detail, reference being made to the accompanyingdrawing, in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof.

In this drawing, Figure 1 is a side elevationpartly in section. of myimproved electrically controlled irrigating head gate. Fig. 2 is a topplan view of the same with parts removed. Fig. 3 is a sectional view indetail of the switch for making-andbreaking the circuit through themagnet. Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 44, Fig. 3, viewed in thedirection of the arrow. Fig. 5 is a view illustrating the manner ofsecuring the switch to a stationary support.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts inall the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate the opposite parallel side walls of the headgate structure, with the inlet end of which is connected a mouth member6 whose walls diverge from each other as they extend away from the bodyof the structure, thus making a month which is largest at its receivingextremity. Stretched across this mouth, between the two diverging ,walls7 thereof, isa screen 8 this engagement, themagnet circuit will beclosed and the crank arm 24 actuated to disengage the roller of theescapement'from the uppermost offset 19 of the ratchet and to throw theroller 21 into the path of the offset 19 next below. However, as themovement of the switch arm is continued in the direction of the arrow awhereby the contact spring 51 is disengagedfrom the screw, whereby thecircuit is again broken, the spring 30 will act through the open mediumof the core '27 and the pin 29 and the crank arm 24, to return theescapement to its normal position whereby the roller .21 will bereleased from the second offset 19 causing the gate to move in-thedirection ind'cated by arrow 22 to cause the second ofiset to engagewith the roller 20. If it is desired to leave the gatein the positionresulting from'its movement a distance correspond ing with the distancebetween two ofisets 19 of the ratchet, the switch arm will preferably beleft midway between the screws 38 occupying positions A and B. If,however, it is desired to further open the gate or cause it to assumethe position indicated by full lines in Fig. 1, the switch arm 41 willbe moved first to cause the contact spring 51 to engage the screw 38 inposition B when the escapement will be actuated to disengage the roller20 from the second offset 19 of the ratchet while the roller 21 will actas a stop to the movement of the gate as soon as the movement has beensufficient to bring the third offset 19 into engagement with the roller21. Then as the switch arm 41 is moved to d sengage thecontact spring 51from the screw 38 occupying position B, and to bring the contact springinto a position intermediate the screw 38 in position B and the screw 38in position C, the circuit will be broken and the escapement will bereturned to its normal position when the third offset 19 will engage theroller 20 and the gate will be locked in the position as shown in fulllines Fig. 1 until it is desired to further actuate the same. Should itbe desired to open the gate to its full capacity, and lock it in suchopen position, the switch arm will be moved to bring the contact springsuccessively into engagement with the screws 38 occupying the positionsC and D and then moved bevond the screw 38 in position D and in thedirection of the arrow A to break the circuit. In this event, the roller20 of the escapement will bring the lowermost offset 19 of the ratchetand the arms 12 and 14 will occupy horizontal positions approximately ona level with the upper edges of the side walls 5 of the structure. Thenshould it be desired to close the gate, the switch arm will be furthermoved in the direction of arrow A to bring the contact spring 51 intoengagement with the screw 38 in position E. This will result in theescapement to disengage the roller 20 from the lowermost offset 19 andthe member 14 of the gate will move downwardly under the influence ofthe weight 52, until the member 14 is brought into the path of thecurrent of water 53 when the action of the water upon the member 14 willmove the gate to bring the arm 13 into the path of the water which willact thereon to bring the last named arm into position to be engaged bythe roller 20 of the escapement in whichevent the gate will be again inthe position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

T he Weight 52 is of sufficient mass to imart a positive movement to thegate when in the position shown by dotted lines in Fig.

1, independently of the action of the current upon the member 12 of thegate. In any event, it cooperates with the action of the water to impartthe initial movement to the gate as soon as the escapement is actuatedthrough the instrumentality of the electromagnet.

In order to protect the mechanism above the top of the casing, trough orflume, through which the water to be controlled flows, a housing 57 isemployed, the same being connected with the walls 5 of the casing asshown at 58 and 59. This housing is of suflicient size to inclose thenecessary space required by the blades 12, 13 and 14 when travelingabove the walls of the fiume. The electro-magnet and its connections foroperating the escapement, are also inclosed by the said housing.

Fig. 5 is for the purpose of illustrating the manner of securing theswitch 40 to a suitable stationary support 54 by means of two screws 55which are passed through the frame of the switch and slots 56 formed inthe metal disk 39 so that there will be no interference with the circuitduring the operation of the contact spring 51, as the screws 55 will beinsulated from the disk.

In order to tightly close the channel of the casing upon which the gateis mounted when the blade 12 is in the position shown by dotted lines inFig. 1, the opposite side edges of the blade are equipped with asuitable packing material which by virtue of its engagement with theside walls 5 of the casing forms a liquid tight joint. The lowerextremity of this blade 12 is also provided with a packing strip 71 forthe same purpose. Attention is called to the fact that the screen 8applied to the front extremity of the casing is an important feature asit prevents fish from entering the casing from the main ditch or canal.Fish which enter and pass through a channel which the gate controlseventually die as the water leaves the lateral during the work ofirrigation. The screen 8 is therefore important because it prevents theescape of fish .of a plurality of blades,

ing'and having a from the main canal and Ithenefore hasaa tendency toprevent their destruction. 7 Having thusdescribedz my imzention, What1., The combination of a casing, a. gate rotatably mounted thereon" andcomposed a ratchet carried by the gate, an escapementadaptedvtoent-gagezthe ratchet, means for normallyih-oldmg the escapment 1nengagementxwith the ratchet to lock the gate againstmovement,

. and electro-magnet'ic means adapted} when Copies of this :patent maybe :obtaine dqfiqrifiwescents-teaen, by -add nessi ngtheandwbneakingthe. latter .fo-r

gate against the-:tende uneas :3; The combination :of abcasin-gfionmifiga Water-channel, agate notat'ably mounted on v :the casing-and!equippedwithl a plu1".-ality of blades adapted toenters-the WatenchanneL insuccession as the .gateeis rotated; one-oft; said blades beingconstructed to- :close the chan- 1nelz'by forming a water st-ightjointWith the side mutate-60f,- a ratchet .CMfI'lGdi bythe gate-,-an;esoapementxengaging thematohet, a

the coil isi located; a core passing through the: coil; and: connectedwith thecrank. arm aspring acting .on the 'coteltolcausevititoe-maintamthe cnanlr arm .1n .posltlion :to. -loc;k the gate agaan-st' monement byvlrtue ofxthe engagementofithe escapement:with:the: ;atehetWhenthe-magnet coils arede'enetgiz ed; and

liock spindle torwhieh the;escapementiismade :fiast, 2a enanle-armjmadefast toxthe spindle, an zelectrormagnetiq coil, .a zcire'uite inn whichamswitchlocateda in the ci-rcuit-xforlmaking forth.

'ilinxtestimonyx whereof my signature in presence-of'alwitness CLARENCE-5Witness: At. J GZBRIEN.

the purpose; set

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